Boston Celtics
Miami’s undrafted Caleb Martin is emblematic of an eighth-seeded team that continues to defy expectations as it heads to the NBA Finals
Tuesday 30 May 2023 12:51pm BST
As it turns out, there’s a simple reason no NBA team has ever won a series from a 3-0 deficit: The better-prepared unit is usually the one ahead. So it came to the Eastern Conference Finals, where the Miami Heat, after losing their last three games, regrouped for Game 7 and defeated the Boston Celtics 103-84 away on Monday night. After fighting so hard to survive, the Celtics eventually suffered a return of the same bad habits that originally brought them to the brink of elimination.
“The hole we put ourselves in is tough,” Celtics guard Malcolm Brogdon said after the game. “No one climbed out of that hole. Tonight it was the same. We couldn’t climb out of the hole we created.”
Miami Heat rejects Celtics comeback and advances to NBA Finals with Game 7 win
Before we break down what went wrong for Boston, let’s pay tribute to the Heat’s Caleb Martin, who was wrongfully stripped of his rightful MVP award in the Eastern Conference Finals with a single voice. Make no mistake, Jimmy Butler is a worthy winner if he’s rewarded for all his work this postseason. Playoff Jimmy remains the main reason an 8th-seeded player has reached only the second NBA Finals (the 1999 New York Knicks also did the feat, losing 4-1 to the San Antonio Spurs).
However, Butler’s problems midway through the series were a major reason the Celtics were able to fight back and force a Game 7. In contrast, Martin was always there when Miami needed a big shot against Boston. In Game 7, Martin scored 26 points on 16 shots without the benefit of a free throw while racking up 10 rebounds. By the end of the series, Martin had taken his point total to 132, a record for an undrafted player in a conference finals.
Did 3 in the series
Jayson Tatum + Jaylen Brown 18
Caleb Martin + Tyler Herro* 22*didn’t play
— Tom Haberstroh (@tomhaberstroh) May 30, 2023
Yes, like six other players on this Heat roster, Martin wasn’t drafted. After playing for the University of Nevada, Martin was signed as a free agent by the Charlotte Hornets, who eventually released him. The Heat signed him to a two-way contract in 2021, meaning he’s alternated between the NBA and G League at times. While Martin didn’t earn the MVP award based on his game alone, he earned it simply because he was the perfect embodiment of a team that far exceeded expectations.
After defeating the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the playoffs, the Heat continue to play the underdog role. That will be the case again when the NBA Finals begin Thursday, especially given how dominant the now-rested Denver Nuggets looked in the Western Conference playoffs.
But recent history suggests Miami will hurt them if the Nuggets don’t respect the Heat. The Celtics didn’t respect the Heat, or at least not enough to not lose the first three games of the Conference Finals at all. Had they lived up to expectations from the start, they probably wouldn’t have had to take inspiration from the 2004 Boston Red Sox in MLB and would have been the first team in their league to make an unprecedented comeback.
Caleb Martin featured heavily for the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. Photo: David Butler II/USA Today Sports
Perhaps it was those memories that made a Boston win before Game 7 almost inevitable. After Derrick White’s miraculous buzzer-beater in Game 6, the momentum favored the Celtics. Game 7 would be at home in TD Garden, making them strong favorites. Some opponents who failed to eliminate a dangerous team would have collapsed under the pressure. To the Heat’s credit, they have refused to engage with the narrative being written around them.
Now it’s true that Monday’s game would have been different if Jayson Tatum hadn’t twisted his ankle 30 seconds into the match. Tatum, Boston’s top player, clearly wasn’t the same after the injury, ultimately scoring just 14 points on 5-for-13 shooting in the playoff. With Tatum out, the team needed a great night out from Jaylen Brown.
Instead, Brown lost eight rallies and scored 1-for-9 from three-point distance, which was a major reason for the team’s abysmal 21.4% of long-range shots (the Heat, by contrast, scored 14-for-28, almost the same rate). They shot from two-points.) With Brown a free agent at the end of next season, his long-term future with the club is now officially in question.
Ultimately, the Celtics lost that streak in their first two games. Boston started with home advantage against an eighth-seeded team and promptly lost both. On the other hand, what’s home field advantage for a team that’s gone 11-12 at TD Garden for the past two postseasons?
If the Heat have outperformed in recent years — this is their second NBA Finals in four seasons — the Celtics have done the opposite. This season in particular, the team has earned a reputation for struggling with performance and concentration, leading to in-game breakdowns and the occasional inexplicable no-show. Sometimes, if you’re talented enough, you give yourself enough leeway to survive periods of playing down to the perceived level of the competition.
As the Celtics have hopefully learned by now, if you don’t have room for error or bad luck, either one will eventually bring you down. Perhaps that was the secret of success for the unseeded Martin and the overlooked Heat: You can’t afford that luxury when the odds are against you.
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